We all receive a lot of unwanted spam email.  Most of it is actually preventable but once the spam starts, it is almost impossible to stop.

Most spam is actually caused by the unknowing actions of your friends and other associates.  So here's how spammers get your email address.  Perhaps you can convince your friends to take pause and think before sending that next mass email:

1. CLUB AND ORGANIZATION EMAIL LISTS:  If a well-intentioned club official sends an email to all members but does not send it as a "blind carbon copy" or BCC:, that person is actually advertising your private email address to spammers.  How?  Certain nasty programs hidden in some PC's called Bots, Trojans or Worms can read the emails and addresses stored as text on someone else's PC, then harvest and send any valid email addresses to a spammer.  BCC'd email very effectively hides those valid email addresses from spammers.
   
   The moral:  NEVER, EVER SEND A MASS EMAIL IN ANY OTHER WAY THAN USING A BLIND CARBON COPY or BCC!  Don't know how to send a blind carbon copy? Have a knowledgeable PC user show you how.  They'll be glad that you did!
   
    
2. PUBLIC WEB SITES DISPLAYING EMAIL ADDRESSES OF OFFICERS, MEMBERS, COACHES, PLAYERS, ETC.  Automatic web readers called "BOTS" scan millions of web sites every night.  These BOTS scan the web site text looking for anything that looks like an email address (anything with an @ in it).  These valid email addresses then get sold to spammers.
   
   The moral:  Absolutely forbid anyone or any organization publishing your valid email address on a web site.  If your email address needs to be made available, one suggestion is to have someone make a graphic or picture of your email address.  That way a bot or machine cannot read it but a human can.  Another solution is to scramble your email address so that a human can figure it out but a machine cannot:
   
                johnsmith@comcast.net      on a web site becomes  
                  johnsmith-atsign-comcast-dot-net
   
    
3. PLEASE PLEASE don't email jokes while exposing all the recipients email addresses.  Use Blind Carbon Copy or BCC: when originating any mass emails!
   
   
   As you can see, the people giving your private email address to spammers are often your closest but unknowing friends and associates.  Help keep yours and other email addresses PRIVATE!

 ABOUT  SITEMAP  CONTACT  SERVICES  PRODUCTS  PROJECTS  NEWS  SAM  PARTNERS  LOGIN  TERMS